Finding Your Perfect Voice-Over Microphone Position - Sound Speeds
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- Опубліковано 21 сер 2024
- When you first step up to a microphone, it's likely that you'll stand close and project loudly. Having no training, you could be puzzled by the whole microphone thing and won't even know what to do you about things like plosives. Believe it or not, you can easily stress yourself out without even knowing what you're supposed to know about your own microphone and where it needs to be. In this video, I'll show you various ways of positioning the microphone to find what works best with your workflow.
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Very helpful thanks!
Glad to help. Thanks for watching
This is the first video I've seen describe the off axis position (and all the other positions) for voiceover recording. Thank you for the clarification!
Sure thing! Thanks for watching.
Great video, Allen. This also underscores the need for a well treated space, as mic placement is also impacted by the sound of the room. In other words, you have more freedom with mic placement when the room is flat and neutral. A lot of voice actors have to get up on the grill and turn down the gain to decrease unwanted reflections, standing waves, etc...
George O Correct. The louder you are, the more you reflect. That why when doing VO in a car you should be close on the mic in the middle of the car and then not speak loud.
I already love this video just by even taking just a glance at your video description
I hope the the video itself doesn't disappoint. :-) Thanks for watching.
I think placing the mic at 45 degrees has helped me a lot in avoiding pop filters, i m not very much on camera, but this is a super useful video! Like REALLY USEFUL,
Great! It takes a little practice to become aware of it and not pop it but it's a quick adjustment. Thanks for watching.
Thanks for sharing. Very helpful tips.
Thanks for watching
Great demonstration of all the mic position options, thanks.
Thank you and thanks for watching.
Very interesting video! So much to know about audio, so thank you for sharing, oh wise one!
Thank you and thanks got watching,
Really like your vids, this is useful
Tim Olson Thank you sir.
Best audio education channel on UA-cam and I'm pretty sure I've seen most of them.
Any special tips for us dynamic mic proles?
Thank you. In what way? Dynamic mic technique should be the same as condenser.
I know it's kinda randomly asking but does anybody know of a good place to stream newly released series online ?
Stream newly released series online? What do you mean?
Another great video! Just picked up a SM58, so some good food for thought while thinking about placement.
Age of Boredom Thank you. I like the SM58. For the money you can't beat it. Grats!
I just recorded a few videos with it now. I have to say it makes me sound exactly how I wanted to sound on mic. That with the DBX286s (hooked to the the Scarlett 2i2), I've managed to reduce all (noticeable) background noise and I really don't have to do much post work on my sound now. I'm really pleased.
Excellent! If you have ears, it's not hard to make a mic going thru a DBX 286S sound great because it's pre-amps.
Great video Allen, all good thoughts on recording voice over !
Michael Wynne Thanks Michael. I left out acoustics or rather... saved it.
I don't have any problem with the type of microphone placement at 2:30. It actually looks a little better to me because I can see where the voice is being picked up.
That's fine if you like it. That's the key though - you liking it.
Great Video. Outside of the microphone, are you adding any software compression or EQ on the backend?
I do have a process I run my standard presentation audio thru but when testing a mic or something where my audience will want to hear how something sounds without processing, no. UA-cam isn't a platform for high fidelity and goofs it up though.
I actually don't mind it at all when the microphone is on camera like that. In fact I kind of enjoy seeing the microphone. Still lots of good general information to keep in mind.
Unicorn Parade My preferences don't have to be yours. That's the beauty of opinions. My pet peeve. :-)
I must say I liked the last position I can see my voice over sheet, and most importantly it's not in my face, you can also use the 2 finger trick which stops pop, by putting your 2 fingers in front of your mouth, thanks for the condenser mic positioning I needed something like that. is there anyways can you make a video on simple materials we can use in order to stop reflections? also I would love to see a video using a shot gun mic, for positioning.
Score Moore OK, I've marked those topics down. :-)
Sound Speeds wow thanks a lot.
I'm guilty of blocking my face with the pop filter on facecam recordings, lol. I ordered a smaller pop filter and I'm going to try the sideways placement. Another issue I had that will be fixed with this will be the xlr connector being too close to my desk and hitting my controller when I moved it. Thanks for the advice!
Rothenium Sure thing. It really depends on your application. For video, people want to see your face so showing your whole face will improve your video greatly while only slightly reducing sound quality and even then, it's not necessarily bad. You don't have to have to be right up on a mic in a quiet environment to be heard and truth be known, it sounds more natural just a little farther away.
Yeah, I was trying to compensate because the preamp on my interface was bad and noisy at higher gain and I had no compression at all so it was a problem. Got a preamp with an analog compressor that should arrive this week. Hopefully this will give me more flexibility. Thanks, man!
Rothenium Which mic are you using? Is your recording environment quiet?
Shure KSM32, I have electric humming from all of my regulators and battery backups so I went with this transformerless option. My room is an acoustic nightmare and echo is a problem, but I'm working on placing some sound traps in certain key points. Just got a rolls RP533 Studio Tube Multi Processor and I'm going to hook it up to a Allen & Heath ZEDi-8 Hybrid Compact Mixer/USB Interface and get rid of my Presonus Audiobox iOne. Main problem is with live streams. With my recorded videos I've always been able to easily clean it up, EQ and compress.
Rothenium A DBX 286S could do you wonders when live streaming. Buzzing, you say? What kind of buzzing? Does it change when you touch the mic? Are your sound cables crossing power cables? Do you know which component is your issue? If not, and you need troubleshooting help, sent me an email.
ua-cam.com/video/U2CHeLPVmD4/v-deo.html
Do you still have that Mic? I have one that I like it, sounds a lot like NT1(not A) but a bit warmer
Yes
Great video! I usually use shotgun mics like the NTG3 orMKH 416. I'd love to hear your thoughts on shotgun mic placement for VO.
julleget Sure thing!
Looking forward to it!
Very useful information! It's also a pet peeve of mine when people have a huge large condenser mic in front of their face on video.
This leads to my question: why use a large condenser mic at all? Using a small condenser specifically made for indoor dialogue like super or hypercardiod Schoeps cmc641, DPA 4018c, and less expensive options would work well. Then you can still mount it out of frame above or below you, and can also use it on a desk with gooseneck mount of doing a screencast/podcast, on a floor stand, etc. I know you have mics like this, so I'm curious why you don't use them for your own videos! They would also seem to work better in smaller spaces, because they are physically smaller. Thanks!
Armando Singer I leave my audio set up at all times and my DPA mics are used elsewhere. In a direct address video like these, an LDC pulls out the lows in my voice effectively so I leave it. BTW, in my March 26 video, I use the DPA 4017B the whole video.
Sound Speeds Makes sense, thanks for taking the time to reply! I’ll compare to that other video to hear the difference.
Armando Singer Please! And tell me your thoughts.
Do you mean you upcoming March 26 video will use the DPA? From the Feb 27 under-boom video where you demonstrate positioning the 4017 overhead--you're right, the LDC mic in this video does seem to pull out lows in your voice a bit more effectively than the DPA. Some follow-up questions, if I may:
1. What mic are you using in this video?
2. Does a directional LDC generally pull out the lows better when placed at a distance vs SDC? (Perhaps because the LDC is more sensitive to those frequencies?) Or is that just this particular mic?
Thanks!
Armando Singer 1) AKG C4000B. 2) Depends. As a rule, LDCs would pick up more low end because it has a larger surface area to pick up slightly more low end. If a SDC has been engineered to be darker, it may pick up more low end than an LDC. Depending also how far away, the LDC will likely be noisier than the SDC so it may be easier to use the sound from the SDC. It also depends on the mic pattern and reach.
18:53-18:58 "I am so used to having the microphone that is currently staring me in the face which is a clone of this one" So what IS the mic in front of you? :D
JustinXenyx AKG C4000B.
Also ... the closer you are ... does that equal less gain?
The farther you are ... does that equal more gain?
Depends on your speaking volume and background noise. If speaking quietly and close to the mic, the gain may be the same as you speaking normally into the mic a foot or more away or yelling at a distance. The main thing is to set your levels so your input gain peaks at -12 db.
@@SoundSpeeds Thank you for the help. The advice has paid off over my last few videos and I wanted to stop by and say THANK YOU.
One question about what you said with the -12 db comment.
Let's say you are trying to edit voice and background music... if (for example) your voice track for your show is set to -10 db .... where should we be putting our background track so that things aren't too close in volume, but not too far apart? I know this is one of those "it depends" type of questions, but it seems no matter how close or far apart I have these numbers, it never sounds right.
@@TeacherCast Thank you so much for coming back and writing this! I'll have to check out your channel and listen. :-)
Great question but yes, it depends. It's not something you can quantify because all music is different and your voice is different. If your music perfectly matched the frequency curve of your voice then it could be easier to just say "the music should be 12dB lower" or 15dB or 20dB or whatever but it doesn't. This is why it's important for music to compliment the voices if they overlap. On a live stage show, if the EQ is mostly subwoofer bass - those frequencies won't interfere with the human voice much and because they don't compete, you could likely play them at the same volume and hear both fine. Music that has instruments in the vocal range may cause the vocal mic selection to be one with certain frequencies boosted or the EQ could be a lot higher than you'd ever expect to see but this is just to get up and over the music.
If your music is heavy in frequencies that compete with your voice, you'll have to play it lower in order to have your voice heard. You might also consider EQing the music a bit to see if it helps to not have the music overwhelm your voice while you still hear the music fine. On the radio sometimes you hear a recognizable song played and then there's a point where the host always starts talking while the music keeps going. The music might be untouched until the point where the host talks and then be EQed from that point until it fades out.
There's also something called ducking. The music would be louder until you start talking and then it automatically drops just a bit to let you be heard when speaking and goes back up again after. You might consider recording a test vocal sample and playing with the music and voice track in editing. Try to find the right balance and then test it a few times as if you were live in your show. A few things to consider.
@@SoundSpeeds I'm trying to find your website to contact you offline.
@@TeacherCast SoundSpeeds@yahoo.com
Hi! Thanks for the great video :) I'm trying to find a mic stand with a boom arm that can handle the weight of my condenser mic in the "from above" mic positioning. Any suggestions?
A mic stand with a boom arm? I'm not familiar with such a creature. A mic stand with a wide base would support a boom arm if weighted down but aside from that, you might look into into C-stand with Gobo Arm that can support a mic. The stand I use is: geni.us/CStand
@@SoundSpeeds Awesome, thank you!
Glad to help
This could have been half or one-third as long. If you're just starting out, you have to spend a lot of time reading and watching videos like this, so it is always frustrating when there's a lot of unnecessary words thrown in.
People come to my channel for no nonsense, full explanations and analogies to help you remember things.